Lambda Chi Alpha’s national headquarters on Sunday expelled 35 out of the 92 active members from SMU’s Gamma Sigma chapter after a membership review.

Since Sunday’s expulsions, 14 additional members have resigned, and more are expected to resign through the end of the school year, said junior Dan Callahan, who was expelled as the chapter’s president.

Members were given letters at 9 a.m. Sunday morning, and were asked to move out by 10 p.m. that night.

Callahan said he was surprised by it all. He said that during the weeks leading up to last weekend’s membership review, he had been hearing different rumors about the review from alumni. But he said alumni members were not explaining their reasons for the review.

“No straightforward answers were given to us,” Callahan said. “I’m still pretty baffled by what’s going on. I just don’t understand it.”

The chapter was put on probation by its national headquarters last October after the SMU Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards placed Lambda Chi on deferred probation after incidents with the philanthropy event “Watermelon Bash.”

Messages left for John “Biff” Holloway, Lambda Chi Alpha’s national director of chapter services, have not been returned.

A few weeks earlier, a team from nationals came down to assess the progress of the chapter, and talked to each pledge class about where members saw the future of Lambda Chi and to see if members were upholding national values.

Shortly after, the national headquarters contacted the chapter, telling them they were to have a membership review last Saturday. The review consisted of 15-minute interviews with each member of the chapter by four national representatives.

On Sunday morning, the entire chapter was asked to meet in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, where SMU Lambda Chi alum Kyle Snyder, the alumni control board chairman, handed out letters of disciplinary action.

The letters to the expelled members read that members have committed the following offenses:

Conduct unbecoming of a gentleman

Failure to act for the good of the Fraternity or committing an act detrimental to the Fraternity

Violation of an oath of membership

Violation of a Mandatory Policy Resolution approved by the General Assembly of the Fraternity

Still, expelled members said they were left confused and wanting clearer answers for why they were being expelled.

Senior Dan Barrett said he felt fraternity members were doing their best to satisfy their probationary terms.

“With only 15-minute interviews, I feel like nationals made sweeping generalizations about individuals in our fraternity,” Barrett said. “They kicked good kids out, and I don’t think they handled themselves professionally.”

Expelled members said they believe nationals may have felt like the chapter wasn’t apologetic enough to the nationals, and current chapter members were not taking the probation seriously.

Callahan said the review was unbecoming of what he would expect from Lambda Chi and embarrassing. He said Lambda Chi is supposed to help boys grow into men, not tear people down for no reason.

“We have no major incident that happened,” Callahan said. “I feel like this just might be a personal vendetta against our chapter or members in it. And freshmen have not been in chapter long enough to deserve this punishment.”

According to expelled members, even a few freshmen were expelled. Because the freshmen were initiated 2 weeks before and paid their dues to the national headquarters, they are not allowed to join another fraternity.

The chapter currently has no executive officers, and alumni are in total control of the chapter.

Callahan said about 25 local alumni that have contacted and written letters on the chapter’s behalf asking the national office to clarify the expulsions and to reconsider the membership review.

For now, SMU student life officials are helping the expelled members arrange hotel rooms.

The Gamma Sigma chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was placed on deferred suspension Monday night by the SMU Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, Vice President of Student Affairs Lori White confirmed.

The office placed the fraternity on deferred suspension for the rest of the fall semester due to members’ behavior during the “Watermelon Bash” philanthropy event at Burleson Park on Sept. 19.

According to White, SMU received letters, emails, and University Park police reports with complaints of the Lambda Chi Alpha members’ behavior during the event.

“SMU has a code of conduct we expect our students to adhere to and this particular student organization violated those expectations,” White said.

According to University Park Police, a UP resident filed a complaint on the afternoon of Sept. 19 claiming that SMU students who attended Watermelon Bash were playing loud music and urinating in her yard.

Another report states that a UP officer spotted a female in “an intoxicated state” on sorority house property. The officer cited her for a being a minor in consumption.

Chapter president Harrison Kaufman declined comment Monday night, referring questions to the chapter advisor, who has not returned repeated calls.

White explained that under deferred suspension, the fraternity may not host any sponsored social activities — with or without alcohol — on or off campus.

In addition to these guidelines Lambda Chi Alpha must also complete the following:

Pay restitution of $1200 for damages done to Burleson Park to the city of University Park.